Scriber



y 1958 E. D. OWEN 2,833,040

' SCRIBER Filed Aug. 1a, 1955 v 76 v fi a INVENTOR FIG. 2 50mm 0. owe-1v ATTORNEY United States Patent.

SCRIBER Edward D. Owen, San Diego, Calif.

Application August 18, 1955, Serial No. 529,220

6 Claims. (Cl. 33-41) This invention relates to a scriber, and it particularly relates to a scribing device of the type used in marking or scoring sheets of material.

Heretofore, scribers of this general type, whether used on metal such as steel or other metal sheets, or on linoleum, plastic, glass, or the like, required paintaking manual adjustments and accurate control of the instrument during the scoring or scribing operation. It was, therefore, necessary for the operator to have a high degree of skill in order to be able to use the tool eificiently. Furthermore, even a skilled worker had to waste a great deal of time in setting the instrument to the particular dimensions of the workpiece. In addition, when the device slipped, there was great danger of cutting ones fingers.

It is one object of the present invention to overcome the above and other disadvantages by providing a scribing device which will automatically adjust to the worklece. p Another object of the present invention is to provide a scribing device which is absolutely safe to use and where there is little danger of injury from the cut edge.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a scribing device which does not require any manual adjustments.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a scribing device which does not require any undue amount of skill for its efficient operation.

Other objects of the present invention are to provide an improved scribing device of the character described, that is easily and economically produced, which is sturdy in construction, and which is highly eflicient in operation.

With the above and related objects in view, this invention consists in the details of construction and combination of parts, as will be more fully understood from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a top perspective view of a device embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side view, partly in elevation and partly in section, of the device of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the device of Figs. 1 and 2, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2. I

Referring now in greater detail to the drawings wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts, there is shown a scriber, generally indicated at 10, comprising a bar 12 of generally elongated, rectangular shape, a pair of side arms 14 secured to and extending up from opposite sides of the bar 12, and a lever 16 pivotally mounted between the arms 14 by means of a pivot pin 18 extending through a depending ear 20 on the lever, this pin having pointed ends 22 extending into openings 24 in the side arms 14.

The side arms 14 are connected at opposite sides of a depending lug 26 of bar 12, by means of screws 28; the arms 14 being each provided with longitudinally extending flanges 30 which are connected to the sides of top of the plug 7 A flange 87 on bar Cir the bar 12 by means of screws 32. It should be noted that the sides of the bar 12 are slightly cut away at the area of the side arms 14 and their flanges 30 to form complementary slots 34 into which these arms and flanges fit. This provides a uniplaner side contour without any jutting edges which might tend to catch. or snag.

The lever 16 is provided, at one end, with a finger portion 38 and, at its opposite end, with a lateral hole 40. A bar 42, bent to form a rectangular shape having two long arms and two short arms, has one of its short arms 44 extending through, hole 40 while the other of its short arms 46 extends through a lateral opening in a marker housing 48. The long arms 50 pass through openings 52 in the bar 12. i

The marker housing 48 comprises a plug 54 having a curved top and a fiat bottom. This plug 54 is positioned, by means of rivets 56, between a. pair of curved, upstanding flanges 58 of a spring plate 60;

A coil spring 62 extends between the head of a lock screw 64 set in a recess 66 on the undersurface of the bar 12, and the head of a screw 68 extending from the 54. This spring 62 acts to bias the marker housing 48 and, therefore, the free. end ofthe spring plate 60, down toward a guard plate 70.

The spring plate 60 and guard plate 70 both com prise a flat horizontal portion at the bottom free ends thereof and an upwardly sloping vertical portion. The upper ends of the vertical portions extend between the inclined fore edge 72 of the lug 26 and the. compie mentary inclined edge 74 of a block 76. A slot 78 is also formed between the top edge of the block 76 and the lower surface of the bar 12. Into this slot 78 extend the horizontal 'flanges 80 and 82 of the spring plates 60 and 70 respectively. The block 76 is clamped to the bar 12 by screws 84 and, thereby, acts to clamp the plates 60 and 70 to the device. A rivet 86 connects the plates 60 and 70 together immediately below the lug 26.

12 bears against block 76.

The free edge of the spring plate 60, just in front of the housing 48, is bent downwardly and is rounded to form a curved scoring or scribing edge 88. This scoring or scribing edge 88 is biased by spring 62 into overlapping relationship with a curved guard and guide edge 90 on the free end of the guard plate 70.

A pair of handles 92 extend upwardly at oppositely inclined angles from opposite offset ends 94 of the bar 12,

ghfie handles being connected to the olfset ends by screws In operation, the device is applied to a sheet of material, shown at 98, which overlaps a second sheet 95 having a butt strap portion 97 to scribe it so that its new edge may be cut complementary to edge 99 of sheet 101 with the guard plate 70 underneath and the spring plate 60 above the sheet. The spring 62 acts to automatically urge the scoring or scribing edge 88 against the sheet 98, while the guide edge 90 of guard plate 70 abuts edge 99 of sheet 101. The handles 92 are then grasped, one in each hand, and the device is either pulled or pushed across the sheet to form a score or scribed line 100. In this operation, the spring 62 holds the cutting or scribing edge against the workpiece 98 so that there is no need to hold it down by hand and, therefore, there is no danger of injury to the hand. After the scoring operation is completed, the finger is pressed down on portion 38 of lever 16 to lift the spring plate 60 up, against the pressure of spring 62, and the device is then pulled out from the working position.

Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, such description is intended as being illustrative rather than limiting, since the invention may be variously embodied, and the scope of the invention is to be determined as claimed.'

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, what isclairned is:

r 1. A scrib'ng device comprising a basebar, handle means secured thereto, a spring plate and a guard plate eachhaving one end secured to said base bar to one side of the midpoint thereof with said spring plate intermediate said guard plate and said base .bar and biased toward said guard plate, said spring plate and said, guard plate extending downwardly and forwardly from said base bartoward the opposite side of the midpoint of said base bar the forwardly extending unsecured endof each said' spring plate and said guard plate terminating in downwardly extending overlapping lips, said spring plate lipconstituting a scribing edge, said guard plate lip constituting a guard and a' guide edge, and means pivotally mounted on said base bar and connected at one end to said spring platefor manually retracting said scribing edge from overlapping said guardand said guide edge.

Ascribingdeviceas defined in claim 1, and supplemental spring means biased between said spring plate and said base baradditionally urging said scribing edge toward said guard and guide edge and providing additional scribing pressure thereon.

:3. A scribingdev'ice asdefinedin claim 1, said means pivotally mounted on said base bar and connected to said spring plate comprisinga manually operable lever pivoted at an intermediate point to said base bar, linkage meanspivoted atone end to said lever and at its other end to said spring plate, the other end of said lever being manually operable.

4. A scribing device comprising a base bar, handle means secured thereto, a pair of'bracket plates extending upwardly from opposite sides of said base bar, a mounting block secured to the bottom of said base bar and extending from adjacent to one end of said base bar to approximately the mid point thereof, a spring plate and a guard plate each having one end secured by said mounting block to said base bar with said spring plate intermediate said guard plate and said base bar, said spring plate and said'guard plate extending downwardly and forwardly from said mounting block toward the other end of said base bar, the unsecured end of each said spring plate and said guard plate terminating in downwardly extending overlapped lips, said spring plate lip constituting a scribing edge, said guard plate lip constituting a guard and guide edge, and means pivotally mounted between said bracket plates for manually retracting said scribing edge from overlapping said guard and guide edge.

5. The scribing device of claim 4, said last mentioned means comprising a lever pivoted intermediate its ends between said bracket plates, and a linkage connecting one end of said lever to said scribing edge, means urging said scribing edge toward said guard and guide edge, the other end of said lever constituting a manually operable handle foroperating said linkage to retract said scribing edge from overlapping said guard and guide edge against the action of said urging means.

6. The scribing device; of claim 4, said base bar terminating in downwardlyinclined ends, said handle means constituting a handle secured to each inclined end extending outwardly and upwardly therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent 1 Phelps Oct. 13, 

